Alternatives to Whateley
This article was written by Diane Castle and published in Questions and Answers: Told the Rents (dead link). DeVille Academy is a tiny school that teaches kids to be effective street criminals. Granted, some become spies instead. No parent we know would let their kid go there. Even European supervillains wouldn't send their kids there, since: (1) the kids don't learn to use their powers like they would learn while at Whateley; (2) even if they want their kids to grow up to be criminals, they don't want their kids to be street-level Mooks who get blasted by every super; and (3) DeVille Academy doesn't answer to parents - if any of their kids even have parents. The Yama Dojo only takes Japanese children. Pure Japanese children. There are only a handful of mutants at the entire school. Perhaps half a dozen in each age level. I think we've seen that the training these children get is focused on martial arts and NOT on optimal use of their powers. There used to be a top-secret 'school' for superpowered kids in the USSR, but that has fallen apart since The Wall came down. Now Russian kids like Glissade get sent to Whateley. If there really is a tiny super-school in Russia now, it's really small, really isolated, and really secretive. There is rumored to be a superschool somewhere in China, but there's no solid evidence. But if someone like the Iron Dragon has sent his child to Whateley, then what does that say about such a school? There may be *tiny* superschools tucked away somewhere in Europe or South America, but they would be impossible to find on your own, and too small to handle more than a couple hand-chosen new students. Plus, what kind of schooling and training could your mutant kid get in such a place? Then there's the teen sidekick deal. No, supers *cannot* take on apprentices who are under legal age. The Empire City Guard has found a cheat around that, with a 'teen titans'-style group in New York City, but they're heavily restricted in their activities, and they have special dispensation from the NYC MCO as well as the U.S. Department of Paranormal Affairs. Plus, there are ongoing problems with classwork for them. Superheroes and super-groups cannot take on under-age apprentices without going through years of red tape. Supers who even try such a thing are typically branded as pedophiles in the media, ruining their careers. As for passing as a normal kid in a normal school, let me just say this. HAH! Lots of luck on that one. Even normal-looking kids with minimal powers, like Anna and Rhiannon, can't get away with it. As soon as anyone spots them, they're an easy target for blame. "He MADE me flunk the test with his mutant powers!" "He only won by cheating with those mutant things he does!" H1 is prevalent enough that pretty much every school in America has at least one kid who would call H1 on any suspected mutie. And said kid will not get support from the school administration. Schools know that any mutant on any of their sports teams - or any mutant anywhere NEAR their sports team - can be used as a reason to make them forfeit all their games. Schools know that having a mutant around can mean that all their scholastic results would be audited and possibly overturned. Schools know that having a suspected mutant is an excellent way to create picketing, school board fights, firing of principals and teachers, anything you can think of, up to and including the notorious Detroit School System Anti-Mutant Riots. So it's not safe for the kid or the school to have a mutant go to regular high school. Even home schooling is a bad idea with a mutant. If you could find a way to keep anyone from realizing your kid is a mutant (neighbors? social services? friends? home-schooling organizations?) and find a way to train your mutant kid too, you'll still run into trouble. Not even S.T.A.R. League managed this for long, and they basically controlled their kids' lives to the point that their only friends were the kids of other supers on their team. Who *could* pull this off? Okay, let's think about a few people who could pull this off: Gizmatic. He runs his own country with an iron fist inside an adamantium glove. And yet he sent Jobe to Whateley. Iron Dragon. He runs his own world, deep inside China. His word is law. He has his own army. And yet he sent Silver Serpent to Whateley. S.T.A.R. League ended up having to send their kids to Whateley. Dr. Diabolik sent *his* kids to Whateley. In theory, the Goodkinds *could* have kept any mutant Goodkind kids hidden away while they taught and trained them up into anti-mutant powerhouses. But they're literally terrified of mutants, so no. If people like Magma and Gizmatic and Iron Dragon end up needing to send their kids to Whateley, what choice do people like Fey's parents or Chaka's parents have? Really? And the threat level at Whateley has been wildly exaggerated. Bear in mind that Team Kimba CHOSE to attack those ninjas, and CHOSE to go after Tansy, and CHOSE to stay and fight when the Alphas fought back, and CHOSE to go kick the asses of the Necromancer's buddies, and... Halloween is a different matter. That does not happen at Whateley. Category:Diane Castle Category:Organizations